PrepTest 159, Section 1, Question 8
Scientists found the remains of several species of(61 more words not shown)
The conclusion of the argument(13 more words not shown)
- Athe mite species(11 more words not shown)
- Bthe cooler area(13 more words not shown)
- Cthe mite species(21 more words not shown)
- Dthe mite species(9 more words not shown)
- Ethere are fewer(16 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Did these mites actually live near the cave, or were they carried there from somewhere else? Finding remains in a place doesn't, by itself, tell us how the animals arrived.
The species now live a few miles away in a cooler area. My first thought is to check the connection between the remains and where the mites lived. If they merely arrived and died, using their remains to describe a suitable local climate would be much shakier. But read carefully: the passage says they “no longer live” near the cave. That already points toward earlier residence, so my initial objection may not be the strongest one.
What we’re looking for
We're looking for a fact that strengthens the cooler-in-the-past conclusion. Don't become so committed to the first concern about the remains that we overlook a different assumption in the argument.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
At first this might seem beside the point: it doesn't directly tell us how the mites got to the cave. But notice what we were taking for granted. Does temperature actually matter to where these species can survive? They might tolerate both warm and cool areas, in which case finding their remains would tell us little about the cave's past temperature.
A makes their climate requirements restrictive. Combined with their presence in the nearby cooler area now, that gives us more reason to use the species as evidence about the earlier climate around the cave. The answer strengthens the argument by making the climate connection more meaningful. It doesn't have to settle every question about how the remains arrived, and it doesn't explicitly establish that cold is the species' only requirement.
- B
A wetter climate gives us another difference between the locations. Perhaps moisture matters to the mites. That doesn't support the particular conclusion that the cave area used to be cooler; it gives us something else that might help explain where they live.
- C
We're trying to infer the temperature about 2,000 years ago, when these mites were trapped. Whether the species lived there much earlier doesn't establish the climate at the relevant time. Their absence 5,000 or 10,000 years ago wouldn't supply the missing temperature connection.
- D
The cave is already at high altitude. Requiring high altitude might help explain why mites could live there, but it doesn't show that the temperature has changed. The argument concerns cooler conditions in the past, not a change in elevation.
- E
Fewer species today tells us that the number of local species has changed. It doesn't tell us why. We still need a connection between the species' presence and temperature before using that change to support the claim about the earlier temperature.
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